Filed under: Budget , Sedan , Toyota After releasing official pictures and a press release about an hour earlier, Toyota chose an aircraft hanger at the Santa Monica airport as the venue for the global introduction of its highly anticipated 2014 Corolla . Following an extended aerial acrobat show, which included performers running along the walls, swimmers romping in a massive overhead clear plastic pool and angry dancers destroying their cardboard stage in a glittery fit… the all-new C-segment star of the show was lowered on cables from the ceiling. (After the strobe lights and pounding sound that preceded it, the final vehicle reveal was almost anticlimactic.) Face-to-face with the eleventh-generation sedan, we liked what we saw. Compared to last year’s Corolla, the new model appears smaller in person – yet that is mostly an optical illusion. By the tape, it is four inches longer and slightly wider than its predecessor, but a bit shorter. The wheelbase has been stretched nearly four inches, yet the front and rear overhangs only give or take about an inch in the conversion. With the exception of the enormous wheel/fender gap (the new Corolla seems to ride too high), its overall proportions are very pleasing. The fresh sheet metal is modern and stylish, with sculpted lines that add character to a formerly bland sedan The fresh sheet metal is modern and stylish, with sculpted lines that add character to a formerly bland sedan (inexpensive does not have to mean boring). Thankfully, the new car lacks any tacked-on lower cladding to detract from its shape, and the sleek new LED headlights have allowed the designers to abandon the bulbous look of its predecessor’s front illumination.

TORRANCE, Calif., (March 12, 2013) – Semi-finalists in Scion’s Motivate program will learn from other leading entrepreneurs in the creative community during a three-day workshop in Santa Monica, Calif. from March 13-15.